Method of pointing sods



B. E. SAWYE H. METHOD OF POINTING oos, APPLICATION HLED- DEC. 31.1917.

' Patented May 27, 1919.

Wines; 6, EWQW BUBNSIDE E. SAWYER, 0F FITCHIBURG, MASSACHUSETTS.

METHOD or romantic nons.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 27, 1919.

Application filed Deoeinber 31, 1917. Serial No. 299,749.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BURNsIDn E. SAWYER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Fitchburg, in the county of WVorcester and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Method of Pointing Rods, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a method of pointing long rods such as knitting needles and the like.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a method of either finally shap ing and finishing, or making entirely, the points of such articles without the employment of hand methods, and in such a way as to provide a uniform point of a novel and improved configuration. The invention is especially adapted for making steel knitting needles, hair-pins, and other articles of similar shape and character whether circular in cross section or not. The invention also provides .a product, namely a metal knitting needle having a sharp point that enlarges gradually and without abrupt changes in size so that it will readily guide the yarn back and the knitting will be formed on a body of the same size as that on which the work is to be held. Further objects and advantages of the invention will appear hereinafter.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of an apparatus for use in pointing knitting needles showing the Way in which the pointing operation is accomplished and illustrating different positions of the needles in dot-- ted lines;

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view thereof reduced, and

Fi 3 is a view on enlarged scale of a knitting needle made in accordance with this method. v

In the ordinary manufacture of steel knit ting needles they are usually pointed by an ordinary machine operation which leaves them conical at the end and slants them back from the base of the cone which has an altitude of'only about one-sixteenth of an inch in an ordinary sized needle. Thus the needle .is of less diameter at points adjacent to the extreme end than it is in the middle. Knitting needles are sometimes finished by means of an abrasive belt which necessarily, although unintentionally, grinds ofi a portion of the end of the needle near the point so that this part is also reduced.

I find that this is a bad feature in prac-- tice because the knitting is made originally on a surface which is of small diameter near the point Where the stitches are formed and then it is moved back along the main body ofthe needle which has a larger di ameter where the Work is likely to bind if it is closely knit. 1

One of the objects of this invention is to avoid the reduction of the size of the knitting needle at zones near the point. The conical end also is not a desirable feature and this invention avoids that by shaping the end of the knitting needle into a continuous but always changing curve from a point less than one-quarter of an inch from the extreme end to the extreme tip. This curve is of such a nature that a real point is produced with no fiat or conical surface upon it but the surface is always convex at every position along this point. I

Another difiiculty with these steel needles lies in the fact that whether the points are.

produced entirely'b y hand methods or not they are not, or at least have not been, made uniform and exactly central. needle also had to be handled separately by hand allthe time when it was being polished. By myinvention the needles,'whether.

preliminarily pointed or not, are provided with a point of the shape above described,

Each

and arranged exactly central with respect f to the surface of the needle and always the same. It is also done by methods not involving the hand manipulation of the nee dies at all except for the preliminary pointing when that is employed.

- In making of steel needles also it is at present necessary to make "the large needles of hard rolled steel wire while the small ones have to be made of spring-tempered steel wire on account of the fact that the hard rolled wire would bend too readily and not retain its shape under the conditions to which they are subjected in use. I. employ this method for both kinds of needles, but as will appear I do not employ it in the-same way, for in the case of the large hard rolled needles I perform a preliminary pointing operation on a machine before applying what I regard as the main'part of my improved process, but in case of the small spring-tempered needles I use this method also, with all other kinds of needles, if desired. As a matter of fact the shape which the previously pointed needles have is made to conform to that which they would naturally receive if a square ended wire were subjected to this process for a long enough time.

In making a knitting needle or other article in accordance with this method I find that I can combine the polishing operation which is necessary to secure a neat finish throughout the length of the needle or pin with the pointing operation and thus at one time and without any extra labor or time put the article through both processes. F or this purpose I will describe the production of a small sized spring tempered steel wire knitting-needle in detail. This is made from a length of wire cut off square at each end. A bunch of these wires, or rods is placed in a finishing machine arranged as shown in Fig. 1. This finishing device conveniently involves a case, receptacle, or tube 10, mounted on a central shaft 11, the case, whether square or circular, being arranged so that the shaft is centrally connected with it longitudinally but the length of the case eX tends transversely to the shaft. In this case are placed pumice and water together with the rods to .be operated upon. It will be understood, that the covers 15 of the case 10 are protected inside by a sheet 16 of soft material which will prevent the points from puncturing it and being injured against the metallic surface of the covers 15. One difficult problem I have encountered has been the great rapidity of wear of the packing sheets 16 and the frequency with which they have to be replaced, on account of the pointed needles impinging upon them so rapidly. I employ the highest and purest grade of soft rubber stock to obtain the resiliency necessary to preserve the material. In order to hold it firmly and yet employ a minimum amount I counter sink both ends of the tube or case at 17 half Way through its thickness and to a longitudinal depth less than the thickness of the packing. If the packing is inch thick I counter-sink the tube to a depth of E. The plates 15 being held on by the external rods 18 firmly clamp the edges of the packing. Thus a much smaller amount of packing is used than would be the case if ordinary packing methods were used because then a large area at the edge of the packing would be useless.

Instead of having a relatively small case through which the rods could slide longitudinally which would be sufficient simply for the polishing of the cylindrical surface of the rods, as in my Patent, No. 947,855 dated February 1, 1910 I employ a case of a material diameter. If a rod that is being polished and pointed has a length of nine inches, for example, the case will have a length considerably greater than that, as perhaps fifteen inches, and a diameter of about six inches. 'In some cases I use cases seven and eight inches in diameter but the length is always greater and the diameter or width less than the length of the rod to be operated on. These tubes or cases can be arranged in multiples of four or more if desired, in which case the shaft is centrally arranged with respect to the entire set rather than to any single case. I I

From an inspection of Fig. 1 it will be seen that as the case tips from horizontal to a vertical position it will tilt the rods up into an inclined position and cause them to slide along the case with their lower ends rubbing against the lower surface'of the case and also the same action is secured on their upper ends at the same time. a part of the sliding action the needles are tipped end over end so that all surfaces at the points are subjected to the grinding and pointing action. The inner metallic surfaces of the case become impregnated with the polishing grit and themselves constitute grinding surfaces, and in fact some of the polishing and all of the shaping takes place by the rubbing of the rods. against these surfaces rather than by the rubbing of the pum ice against the rods.

I have found in practice that by this simple operation articles of the class described above may be polished and the pointing operation performed without any previous rough pointing at all and I practise the invention in that way in the case of the small tempered steel knitting needles. I find, however, that in the case of hard-rolled needles and also the large celluloid needles and other articles it saves time in the tumbling opera- Simultaneous with tion to preliminarily point the rod in a machine made for that purpose. This preliminary pointing has to be done in sucha way as to get the point in the center, but even if this isdone roughly this method of tumbling will correct the evil and bring the point to a center and also produce a sharp end.

The point a produced is always exactly central and sharp but the surface immediately surrounding the point is curved in outline as shown in Fig. 3. The curvature constantly changes from the tip to the end of the perfectly cylindrical part of the rod A so that there can be no truly conical area and no abrupt changes in shape. It will be understood that the sharp point is secured by making the case of a diameter less than the length of the rods. If it were greater than this length the rods will turn over and be blunted. In that case I think their shape would be substantially parabolic. It Willbe seen that they are nearly of that shape as it is, but have sharp points. I find that the shape secured by this process is so much "poses than that produced by any old process that the knitting needle roduced by this process is a new product or heretofore the shape has either beenconical or reduced for .a considerable distance back of the point or Therefore I do not wish to be limited to the exact procedure herein shown and described,

but what I do claim is 1. The method .of pointing rods which consists in turning them end over end and causing them to slide with their ends only in-c'ontact with a longitudinal grinding surface while their axes make a material angle with said surface.

2. The method of pointing rods which consists in turning them end over end in a rotary receptacle and causing them to simultaneously slide therein with their ends only in contact with a longitudinal grinding surface of said receptacle while their axes make a' material angle with said surface and to tilt about said ends.

3; The 'method of pointing rods which consists in confining them in a case havin 'a length-greater than the length of the m s and a diameter less than the length of the rods but suflicient to permit the rods to assume a diagonal position therein, and tumbling said rods therein in the presence of a grinding material, by turning the case about a transverse axis.

45- The method of pointing long rods cal rods which consists in confining them in a 'case having a length reater than the length of the rods and a dlameter less than the length of the rods but sufiicient to permit the rods to assume a diagonal position therein tumbling said rods therein in the presence of a grinding material by turning the case about a transverse axis to about a central point on the end thereo and produce a curved surface of constantly changing radius, and limiting the grinding operation to an area very near the end of the rod.

6'. The method of pointing long rods which consists in first rough turning their,

ends and then confining them in a metallic case in the presence of a grinding material,

said case having a length greater than the length of the rods and a diameter less than the length of the rods but suflicient to per- -mit the rods to assume a diagonal position therein, and ,finishing said rods therein by turning the caseabout a transverse axis to polish all surfaces and grind the turned point on its curved surface, and limiting the grinding operation to the rough turned surace.

. 7. The method a grinding a, knitting nttdle which consists in first rough shaping its point and then tumbling it in a metal case in the presence of an abrasive material in such a way as to cause the shaped end surfaces to rub along the surface of the case with the needle in a positionat a material angle thereto, and continuing this operation until the point is formed and the entire surface of'the needle polished.

8. A device for pointing rods comprising a tube rotatable on a transverse axis for receiving rods shorter than its length and longer than its thickness, 'and having a removable head and a soft rubber packing on the inner side of the head, the longitudinal walls of the-tube being countersunk at the end slightly less than the thickness of the packing to hold the edges thereof.

In testimony fixed my signature.

BURNSIDEE. SAWYER.

whereof I have hereunto afv 

